Acer Netbooks are here to say, a company spokesperson tells us. They will coexist with the soon-to-land tablet offerings. (Source: Acer)

Speculation that Acer is leaving netbooks behind is patently wrong

Ruth
Rosene a spokeswoman for Taiwanese computer maker Acer, Inc. wrote us this
afternoon to tell us, "Acer [is] NOT phasing out netbooks in favor of
tablets."

Apparently the rumor that
the company would be dumping its popular netbooks amid slowing sales and
increased tablet interest is a bit removed from reality. She writes,
"Acer… [patently denies] recent rumors the company will be phasing
out netbooks in favor of tablets."

In an attached press release, the company writes:

Mobility, which has always been part of Acer’s
DNA, finds a new form of expression in the range of tablets on offer, which
feature various display sizes and models designed to fit different kinds of
usage scenarios. Acer recognizes that the computer market is changing. As PCs
are no longer only used to create content but are more and more becoming
consumption tools, new devices and new form factors are appearing.

This means the range of devices available to users is getting wider and tablets
are just another piece of the mosaic. Therefore, they will find their space next
to netbooks and notebooks.

The
company is preparing to launch three tablet computers this spring. The
first model -- a Windows tablet -- will launch in February 2011. The
Windows 7 tablet will measure 10.1-inches and pack a powerful AMDBrazos GPU/CPU SoC and a pair of 1.3 MP
cameras (perfect for taking 3D images, hint, hint).

The Windows tablet will be followed in April by a pair of Androids -- one measuring 10.1-inches (the "Iconia
A500") and the other measuring 7 inches. Both will feature 3G and
Wi-Fi connectivity, pack screen resolutions of 1280x800 pixels, and come with
Dolby speakers. The 10-inch model will also include an LTE wireless modem.
The smaller tablet packs an HD-resolution front-facing camera (for Skype
messaging, etc.). The larger tablet reportedly is powered by NVIDIA's
dual-core Tegra 2 SoC; the 7-inch tablet may be as well. Both are likely
running the tablet-friendly upcoming Android 3.0Honeycomb.

Acer, maker of the best-selling Aspire One netbook, currently sits in third
place in global PC shipments, behind HP and Dell, and just ahead of
Lenovo and Toshiba (Apple is not on the list in terms of global shipments).
The company owns the Gateway brand, which continues to do respectable
sales volume in the U.S. In the U.S. Acer outsells Toshiba, but is behind
HP and Dell. It was recently bumped
to fourth place by Apple, which sits in third place in U.S.
sales.

Poorly constructed crap is what the consumer wants. Joe Six pack is too cheap to pay for quality or everyone would be using Thinkpad T510s and Panasonic Toughbooks. Blame yourself.

Personally I could care less about customer service. If I have a problem I fix it myself. The only service I consider critical is the Dell/Lenovo style of shipping a repair part to the user to install themselves, and then you send the bad part back in the same box, shipping prepaid. Then again, Joe Sixpack is incapable of installing his own parts...

Everytime Acer tries to do something out of the box, such as make a SFF PC or a Netbook, it's a complete fail. The AcerPower 1000 series had chronic motherboard failures, the Aspire 1's have awful keyboards (layout and key feedback are hella terrible) and their desktop's have been plagued for years with GeForce 6150se chipset related problems.

But in a country where people buy Kia's and shop at Walmart, it's no surprise that our lack of quality standards allow them to outsell quality products from their competitors.